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Monthly Archives September 30, 2020

Poems for the Mid-Autumn Festival 2020, by Daniel Magdalen

The Society
September 30, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
8 Comments
The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival and corresponding to the Harvest Moon in the West, falls this year on October 1.    Lanterns in the Autumn Dark Mid-Autumn's guests head...

‘Postponement’ and Other Poetry by C.B. Anderson

The Society
September 29, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
  Postponement I disappoint some folks of whom I’m fond, But I, in turn, am irritated by The nebulous assurance that beyond This life, in mansions somewhere in the sky, I’ll have another chance...
poem/macgregor/education

A Poem on Toxic Masculinity: ‘Our Worthy Sons’ by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
September 28, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
61 Comments
Our Worthy Sons dedicated to Samuel Our worthy sons should never be ashamed Of who they are and who they’re meant to be. For far too long men’s gender has been blamed In wars that weaponize...

‘Odyssey of Theodicy’ and Other Poetry by Peter Venable

The Society
September 28, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
3 Comments
  Odyssey of Theodicy It is a strange fact, clearly biblical— In this case God’s will is most puzzling: At times, He moves mountains with miracles, But may not remove the cup of suffering. A...

‘Reflections of an Aging Moon’ and Other Poetry by Sally Cook

The Society
September 27, 2020
Beauty, Humor, Poetry
25 Comments
Reflections of an Aging Moon Great brassy stalks of varicolored horns Blow notes to keep the bees awake at noon. Immersed in gaudy zinnia’s stippled forms, They dance and flit, in homage to the...

‘The Winds of Time’ by David Paul Behrens

The Society
September 26, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
18 Comments
  The winds of time will cease to blow, The shining moon will cease to glow, As history comes to an end; Eternity waits 'round the bend. The books and minds of all mankind Will over time, be...

‘Dreams on the Horizon’ and Other Poetry by Dave Irby

The Society
September 25, 2020
Beauty, Poetry
12 Comments
  Dream on the Horizon I sail the ocean toward the setting sun to find my dreams that hide within the sky. And I will travel till my days are done, to live just one before I say goodbye. I search...

On Troublemakers: Two Translations from Phaedrus, by Terry L. Norton

The Society
September 24, 2020
Children's, Culture, Essays, Poetry, Translation
9 Comments
On Troublemakers: Two Translations* from the Latin Poet Phaedrus, Freedman of Augustus (first century A.D.) Translator’s Prologue These little tales from ancient Rome Concern those who would foment...

‘Castles in Our Heads’ and Other Poetry by Talbot Hook

The Society
September 23, 2020
Beauty, Poetry
15 Comments
  Castles in Our Heads The old Italians once long held The mind as ordered hall; And in their arm-chair coffers swelled A wealth beyond recall. Each room was filled with hint and clue To trigger...

A Poem on Trump’s Reaction to Ginsburg’s Death, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
September 22, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
43 Comments
  A Lesson Learned from Trump “We are all equal in the presence of death.” ---Publilius Syrus (100 BC) Today I learned a lesson from the one Whose acid tongue has beaten down the best; A man...

A Poem on the Death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020), by Joe Tessitore

The Society
September 22, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
13 Comments
Supreme Farewell As every king and peasant must, A justice stands before the Just. We bid farewell to Sister Ruth, Who trembles now before the Truth.     Joe Tessitore is a retired New...

‘In the Midst of Life We Are in Death,’ a Poem by Cynthia Erlandson

The Society
September 22, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
14 Comments
  “In the Midst of Life We are in Death.” --Book of Common Prayer, The Burial of the Dead In sure and certain hope, we toss The soil in, and bless the dead. The final sentences; that pause Of...

‘At the Supper Table of a Progressive’ and Other Poetry by Alexander King Ream

The Society
September 21, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
2 Comments
  At the Supper Table of a Progressive They understood riots and death and what's more, "Adore them all really," and down to the core, So dropping my napkin to grant them the same, I upset their...

Ekphrastic Economy: A Review of Memoirs of a Witness Tree, by Randal A. Burd, Jr.

The Society
September 20, 2020
Essays, Poetry, Reviews
6 Comments
Memoirs of a Witness Tree, by Randal A. Burd, Jr. Kelsay Books, 2020 by Andrew Benson Brown Reading Aristotle’s Poetics is in some ways a curious experience for the practitioner of poetry. In this...

‘Feeding Time’ and Other Poetry by James A. Tweedie

The Society
September 19, 2020
Covid-19, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
23 Comments
  Feeding Time Chickens feed on chicken feed. Birds on birdseed, yes-indeed! Cattle feed on cattle feed, Twitters feed on Twitter feed. People feed on many things, Avocados, onion rings, Water...

A Poem On Nancy’s Visit to a Salon, Violating Covid Restrictions, by Sarban Bhattacharya

The Society
September 18, 2020
Covid-19, Culture, Humor, Poetry
5 Comments
  There’s no age bar on titivating hair, Apart from putting rouge on wrinkled cheek. A Speaker has the right to looking fair, And prune her brunette hair once in a week. Pandemics come and go,...

‘The Church is Locked on Easter Day’ and Other Poetry by Benjamin Thomas Cepican

The Society
September 18, 2020
Beauty, Covid-19, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry, Rondeau
7 Comments
  The Church is Locked on Easter Day a rondeau The Church is locked on Easter Day Despite the stone being rolled away. The Christ awakes to greet the poor But they cannot get through the door To go...

A Poem on the Laundering of Drug Money, and Other Poetry by Rod Walford

The Society
September 17, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
10 Comments
  Lucrative On the Laundering of Drug Money As commodities go, you are harmless enough Whether tendered in coin or in crinkly stuff. But without you it seems that the world will not turn Men consort...

‘To Those Who Condemn Coleridge for Using Opium’ by Joseph S. Salemi

The Society
September 16, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry
26 Comments
Weave a circle round him thrice, __And close your eyes with holy dread, __For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise. —Coleridge, “Kubla Khan” Sam Coleridge smoked opium. Ho...
poem/Aristotle/ethics/Venable

‘Logos, Rising’ by Michael Witcoff

The Society
September 15, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
4 Comments
  When Logos lived within the heart of man, Then beauty bloomed and flowered forth at will--- And every house was built upon a plan; Order’s essence, captured and distilled. Then Lucifer, in...

Three Summer Senryu by Matt O’Hays

The Society
September 14, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Haiku and Senryu, Humor, Poetry
3 Comments
  July 4, 2020 A monument falls Rioters have no remorse What happened this fourth?     Summer 2020 Sunny days are here! The beach is ideal and near. It’s Fall...

‘London’s Docklands, Pre-Gentrification’ and Other Poetry by Peter Austin

The Society
September 13, 2020
Culture, Humor, Poetry
15 Comments
  London’s Docklands, Pre-Gentrification from a sonnet by Wordsworth Earth has not anything to show more foul Unless it be the same neath fog and rain; But no, for like Rasputin’s reechy...

‘Losing It’ and Other Poetry by Jeff Eardley

The Society
September 12, 2020
Beauty, Covid-19, Culture, Humor, Poetry
13 Comments
  Losing It He staggered round his living room in stunning disbelief As for the very umpteenth time, he’d gone and lost his teeth. He cried, “They’re in here somewhere, I must search and...

‘Remember 9/11’: A Rondeau by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
September 11, 2020
Culture, Poetry, Rondeau, Terrorism
29 Comments
  They tried and failed. They’re trying still To steal our freedom; break our will--- The terrorists who torment days With ire and fire and Hades’ blaze. Our bones burn with their evil...

A Poem on the Real Definition of Fascism: ‘Misdirection’ by Russel Winick

The Society
September 11, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry
28 Comments
  Misdirection Some dictionaries and encyclopedias still define “fascism” as a far-right system of rule. They need to look again. The Party of self-righteousness, Imbued with far-left...

A Poem for Nantes Cathedral, by Margaret Coats

The Society
September 10, 2020
Beauty, Chant Royal, Culture, Poetry
23 Comments
For Nantes Cathedral Ravaged by Arson in July 2020, a Tribute  This holy place, where the enthusiasm of builders was succeeded by doubt following catastrophe, then hope expressed in restoration, is it not...

A Poem on the Earliest Known English Poet, Caedmon, by Philip Rosenbaum

The Society
September 9, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
4 Comments
. Poet's Note: The Venerable Bede tells us that in the 7th century Caedmon, “having lived in a secular habit till he was well advanced in years, had never learned anything of versifying.” Leaving a...

Poetry on the Passing of the Poet’s Wife, Part II, by Peter Hartley

The Society
September 8, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
26 Comments
  No Longer There I wonder if a change has come about. No longer do I feel that she is there As physical a being in her chair To me as I to her. My words ring out And they receive no answer but they...

‘To a Prisoner of Conscience’ by Martin Rizley

The Society
September 7, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Human Rights in China, Poetry
8 Comments
In Response to an Article on the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners in China I read the other day about the pain That you endure in some nightmarish place, Removed from sight, where sadists made...

A Poem on Nancy Pelosi’s Maskless Salon Trip, by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
September 6, 2020
Covid-19, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
30 Comments
  A Cut Above Why shouldn’t Nancy break a lockdown rule To bless us with her chestnut-tress finesse? As Speaker of the House she’d look a ghoul If cameras focused on an un-coiffed...

‘Vote Joe’ by Wortley Clutterbuck

The Society
September 6, 2020
Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry, Readings
3 Comments
    There’s lots of riots in the street or so I’ve heard from someone’s tweet; they’re pulling out all of the stops, those young people who fight the cops; I see the photos in...

‘Before the Plague’ by Daniel Kemper

The Society
September 5, 2020
Beauty, Covid-19, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
  Before the plague I never knew my hands. The need to purify the human touch has turned my vision inward, but though much is taken; much remains---in human hands, the same, yet not the same. The...

‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game, 2020’ by Joe Tessitore

The Society
September 4, 2020
Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Humor, Poetry
27 Comments
  I am a cardboard cutout. I sit here in the stands. I do not think. I do not blink. I do not clap my hands. You are a cardboard cutout. You sit there next to me. You do not cheer. You have...
poem/james/beauty

A Cat Monologue by E.V. Wyler

The Society
September 3, 2020
Children's, Culture, Humor, Poetry
27 Comments
  'I Shall A Mighty Hunter Be!' “I shall a mighty hunter be, The King of Kills, by God’s decree! Savannahs always guarantee a vantage camouflaging me. I’ll lie in wait with sharpened...

‘We Siblings Three’ and Other Poetry by Randal A. Burd, Jr.

The Society
September 2, 2020
Beauty, Culture, Poetry
17 Comments
  We Siblings Three Attempt to add the hours we have shared: One hundred thousand, maybe thousands more? Our paths conjoined for several years before We struck out on our own and even dared Imagine...

‘Backyard Bliss’ and Other Poetry by Susan Jarvis Bryant

The Society
September 1, 2020
Beauty, Poetry
36 Comments
  Backyard Bliss I hear hope’s song fill skies today __In trills beyond my door. Her citrus kiss burns through the grey __As martins dip and soar. Their purple sheen in lemon rays Is testament to...

The Society of Classical Poets 2021 Poetry Competition

The Society
September 1, 2020
From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests
11 Comments
Winners Have Been Announced Here. "Poetry ... is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular." —Aristotle (384-322 BC),...

2021 High School Poetry Competition

The Society
September 1, 2020
From the Society, High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests
1 Comment
  "Poetry ... is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular." —Aristotle (384-322 BC), Poetics First Prize: $100....

2021 Poetry Translation Competition

The Society
September 1, 2020
From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation
2 Comments
"Poetry ... is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular." —Aristotle (384-322 BC), Poetics First Prize: $100. Publication on...
  1. James A. Tweedie on ‘The Dyer’s Second Tale—A Medieval Heist’: A Poem by Paul A. FreemanMay 23, 2025

    Delightful. Delight-full. Full of delight. Etc. ad nauseum. Paul, what a treat. And how much fun it must have been…

  2. Alan Steinle on ‘What the Caterpillar Calls the End’: A Poem by Scharlie MeeuwsMay 23, 2025

    What death declared, life then revised: The soul remade, the self-surprised. I like these lines from your poem. They remind…

  3. James A. Tweedie on ‘Sound and Fury’: A Poem by Susan Jarvis BryantMay 23, 2025

    And to think I was recently critiqued as being overly alliteral! Susan, you are never less than entertaining. And to…

  4. Paul A. Freeman on ‘Sonnet XIII’: A Poem by Jenna TedescoMay 23, 2025

    Most of what I might have said has already been written. That said, I was particularly taken by the final…

  5. Frank Rable on ‘Sound and Fury’: A Poem by Susan Jarvis BryantMay 23, 2025

    Susan: I am in awe, in awe! You woke me from my deep old man's sleep today! What must it…

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